Padres add RHP Ian Kennedy to rotation

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Ian Kennedy follows through on a delivery to the San Francisco Giants during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, July 19, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
— AP

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Ian Kennedy follows through on a delivery to the San Francisco Giants during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, July 19, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
/ AP

The Padres Wednesday morning made a trade that could help in both areas as they acquired 28-year-old, right-handed, starting pitcher Ian Kennedy from the Arizona Diamondbacks before seeing their four-game winning streak end in a 4-1 loss to the Reds at Petco Park.

“This helps us immediately as well as moving forward,” Padres manager Bud Black said of the three-for-one trade that cost the Padres left-handed reliever Joe Thatcher, right-handed minor league reliever Matt Stites and a Compensation Round B draft pick.

“Ian fits right into our starting rotation.”

Kennedy, who is scheduled to make his Padres debut Sunday at Petco Park against the Yankees, was 3-8 for the Diamondbacks this season with a 5.23 earned run average in 21 starts.

But he has a career record of 49-38 with a 3.99 ERA in 133 games (131 starts) and was the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day starter each of the past three seasons.

And in 2011, Kennedy finished fourth in the National League Cy Young Award voting after going 21-4 with a 2.88 ERA over 222 innings. His 39 wins since the start of the 2011 season is the fourth-most in the National League.

“He’s had a down year for him, but we think Kennedy can get back to performing at the level he has in the past,” said Padres general manager Josh Byrnes, who has now twice traded for Kennedy.

Byrnes was the general manager of the Diamondbacks on Dec. 8, 2009, when Arizona acquired Kennedy from the New York Yankees as part of a three-way trade that included the Detroit Tigers. A native of Huntington Beach, Kennedy was the first-round draft pick of the Yankees (21st overall) in the 2006 draft out of the University of Southern California.

In addition to being brought to the Diamondbacks by Byrnes, Kennedy played for current Padres assistant general manager A.J. Hinch, who was manager of the Diamondbacks in 2009 and 2010.

Byrnes said he targeted Kennedy about two weeks ago and the Padres extensively scouted Kennedy’s last three starts. But actual talks with Diamondbacks (and former Padres) general manager Kevin Towers didn’t begin until the Padres were in Arizona last weekend.

“Over the last couple days, Kevin and I talked a lot about this,” said Byrnes, who said the deal was finalized Wednesday morning only hours before the trade deadline passed at 1 p.m. The deal was finalized around 11:30 a.m.

“We’re excited to add a starting pitcher of Ian’s pedigree,” said Byrnes. “He is under club control through 2015. We feel he will help us take another step forward as a team.”

Although Kennedy immediately bolsters the Padres rotation, Byrnes said his spot in future rotations was crucial in planning for the trade.

“Our starting pitching could get a lot better quickly,” said Byrnes.

Immediately, Kennedy joins a rotation that includes Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross, Eric Stults and Edinson Volquez. Looking ahead, the Padres expect to have top prospects Cory Luebke, Joe Wieland and Casey Kelly back from “Tommy John” surgery next spring.

“Kennedy is the perfect addition,” said Byrnes. “We’re looking forward to 2014. But this doesn’t mean we’ll stop.”

“I’m glad to have him,” said Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley. “He’s durable with a lot of weapons, all of which he throws for strikes. His best pitch is the mix and his fastball command.”

Plus, Kennedy average 208 innings a season for the Diamondbacks from 2010 through 2012.

“The track record is pretty good,” said Black. “Over the course of the season, you need the innings. Kennedy is a guy who is going to work 200 innings and start every fifth day.”

Innings is something the Padres have sorely lacked this season.

Black believes the starters should deliver around 1,000 innings a season. The Padres starters are on pace to throw only 912 innings this season.

However, to get Kennedy, the Padres had to part with one of the National League’s top situational left-handed relief pitchers and a prospect who earned considerable praise over the past year.

Thatcher, 31, has been with the Padres since 2007. He was 3-1 this season with a 2.10 ERA in 50 appearances. Thatcher is 8-11 over his career, all with the Padres, with a 3.18 ERA. Left-handed hitters were batting .215 against Thatcher this season. Only four of the 36 runners he inherited scored and first-batters were reaching base only 22 percent of the time.

Stites, 23, was the Padres 17th-round pick in the 2011 draft. Stites, who had emergency appendectomy surgery earlier this week, was 2-2 with a 2.08 ERA in 46 games for Double-A San Antonio.